


Sparks

by Tosskah



Category: Avatar (TV), Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/F, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-30
Updated: 2018-07-30
Packaged: 2019-06-19 01:18:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15499080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tosskah/pseuds/Tosskah
Summary: A collection of extremely short snippets and one-shots about Tyzula. 2 take place before Sozin's Comet, 2 afterward, when Azula is imprisoned.





	1. Parachute

Ty Lee wakes up first. Morning light is tumbling lazily through the window. It’s a new day. She rolls over to see if Azula is asleep.

The shifting causes the princess to open her eyes, and the two exchange a sleepy smile.

“Morning,” Azula mumbles, her voice gravelly with sleep. Ty Lee wriggles closer, and the firebender lightly drapes an arm around her.

“I had a strange dream!” Ty Lee replies, her voice already gushing with excitement, despite the early hour. 

“Oh?” Azula replies, knowing she is about to hear all about it.

“I was flying! Whooosh,” the contortionist sends her hand zooming upward to illustrate, “Or soaring. Gliding, maybe? But anyway, I was in the clouds, and I remembered that I can’t fly!”

“You don’t say,” the other girl yawns.

Ty Lee continues, undaunted: " So I started falling! And I was screaming and screaming, and before long, you caught me. You just used your firebending and you flew up and caught me. You had your hand behind my neck, and your arm around my waist!“ She pauses a moment, carefully placing her girlfriend’s hands to recreate the experience. “Then we both landed safely!”

“A happy ending,” acknowledges Azula, pulling away to rub the final remnants of sleep from her eyes. She doesn’t say more. She has heard about her companion’s dreams enough to know that there is an analysis to be done.

Ty Lee nods, and shyly meets her companion’s gaze. “I think… I think it means I can always count on you. You’ll catch me.” She smiles at this, and her tender tone coaxes a matching grin from Azula.

“Of course I will,” the bender agrees, placing a soft kiss on the other girl’s forehead.

They climb out of bed, both stretching and yawning. As they exit her royal bedchamber, Azula’s thoughts are turning to breakfast when she notices a note patiently waiting on the floor. There is no indication of who sent it. Brow furrowing, Azula slices the envelope open with a long fingernail. As she reads, her expression clouds, and Ty Lee asks timidly, “What is it? War stuff?”

The princess delicately folds the note back up. “You haven’t… told anyone about us… have you?” Her voice is calm and measured. Calculated. Guarded.

Ty lee looks horrified. “No!! No - Azula - I swear! It’s just you and me. I don’t think anyone has even seen us holding hands, let alone-!”

“So you haven’t told anyone that we have talked about… a future together? Not even Mai?”

“No! Not even Mai! I promise, ‘Zula! I would never!”

“Okay,” Azula breathes, tucking the note into the pocket of her silk robe. The frightened expression smeared on Ty Lee’s face prompts the princess to pull the other girl close.

“What did the note say?” Ty Lee’s voice trembles as she asks the question into the crook of Azula’s neck.

“It just said that they knew about my secret. Must be referring to a different secret.” She tries to make her voice care-free and confident, but it’s so much harder to pretend in front of Ty Lee. The pair remains motionless for a moment, taking the time to revel in holding and being held. “I’ll get a handwriting sample from everyone in the palace. We’ll see who thinks they can blackmail a princess.” Azula kisses the top of Ty Lee’s head before breaking their embrace. “But first, let’s get some breakfast."


	2. Bad Dream

“Back stabbing son of a bitch!“ 

 

"Azula?” Ty Lee mumbles groggily, reaching for her in the darkness. Azula is panting heavily as she sits in bed, drenched in sweat and nightmares.

“She betrayed me.” Her voice is quieter now, shaking, as reality asserts itself.

“Hey,” Ty Lee says gently, scooting closer and curling an arm around the firebender’s waist. “You’re safe now.” She smooths the other girl’s hair, ragged after thrashing in her sleep. Azula’s hand mimics the movement a moment later, finally registering the touch.

“Mai,” is all the princess can manage through gritted teeth. 

“Shhhh,” the acrobat whispers, lightly massaging Azula’s back. “She’s not here.” With slow, careful movements, Ty Lee manages to coax Azula to lay back down. As she adjusts the blankets over them, she tucks herself under the princess’s arm. Her head finds the perfect place to rest on Azula’s silk-covered shoulder (although she can’t resist nuzzling her throat for an instant) and she drapes an arm over the firebender’s torso. “It’s just you and me,” she murmurs, settling in. At last, Azula’s muscles lose their tenseness. She exhales.


	3. Better

“I hate you for doing this!”

Ty Lee chokes on a sob. “I’m sorry!”

But Azula might not have heard. She thrashes, despite her bound hands and feet. Twists. Contorts, painfully, trying to crawl her way to the only visitor she ever gets in prison. It doesn’t take long until she is gasping for breath, strangled by the corset that stops her from bending. It doesn’t prevent her from spitting, however, which is what she tries next. The spittle only makes it an inch or two, but Ty Lee winces anyway. “ _I hate you_ ,” the princess hisses, straining against chains.

“You hafta stay, Azula. Until- until you’re better.”

“Better?!?!” Azula screeches. “I’m-” she gulps a breath, “Better than everyone here!” But she’s said too much with too little air, and any other comments are lost to pitiful spluttering. “I’m better…” she whispers as she slumps, now, exhausted on the filthy floor of her new home. “….I’m better.”

“They’re going to help you get better, Azula. And then…” Ty Lee pauses, suddenly nervous her next words will hurt more than help, “Then you can come home, okay? Bu-but you have to let them help you get well again. That’s all.” The acrobat bends down, as if the princess could have any trouble picking up her words in the desolate, currently silent cell.

Azula’s hair used to be a point of pride for her (like everything else). Not a hair out of place, they had said. And now, it hangs like a greasy, matted curtain over her face, masking her expression. Her ragged breathing puffs out a small tangled nest, which reassures Ty Lee. Sometimes Azula gets so worked up that she passes out - at least she’s still conscious.

“They’ll make you better,” she promises before she stands and slips gracefully out of the door.


	4. Bound by Iron and Madness

“Bitch!”

If Azula had been free, she would have thrown something, just in case her words didn’t hurt Ty Lee enough. But she’s not free. She’s in chains. And Ty Lee looks wounded all the same.

“I hate you!” Azula’s words are so full of vitriol that Ty Lee almost believes them. While the disgraced princess writhes, bound by iron and madness, her visitor manages a quiet response.

“I know you think I b-betrayed you-” she begins, but she is quickly interrupted by Azula. In a way, it’s comforting. Azula never could wait her turn. That comfort is overshadowed by what she has to say, however.

“It should be _you_ in here!” she howls, spittle flying from her mouth instead of the flames she used to conjure. “You chose Mai over me! You stopped me! I would have won!” And her rage slowly slides into an anguished moan, the sadness and depravity replacing fathomless anger. “You said you loved me. You _promised_.”

“Azula-” Ty Lee takes a ginger step forward.

“I was the Fire Lord,” the bender continues, as if she hasn’t heard her companion. “We could have had everything. I would have - we…” At last, she meets Ty Lee’s gaze, and the former princess’s matted hair and sunken eyes are far from familiar. That moment lasts a lifetime, and the tears finally leak onto Azula’s cheeks. “You _lied_ ,” she whispers, a sob choking out the rest of her words. The circus performer shakes her head.

“Of course I still love you. You’re still the prettiest, smartest, best girl I know!” Ty Lee’s voice is soft and soothing, and tinged with the sunshine Azula remembers so clearly. “I’m sorry I hurt you,” she continues, looking at the stone floor. The contortionist shifts, holding the bars instead of Azula’s hands, which are chained together anyway - the girls couldn’t reach each other even if they tried. “But you’re in here to get better,” strength surges into her voice, “And when you’re well again, I’ll be waiting. Because I love you, Azula. I do.”

Finally, she wrenches herself away from the cell and makes her way toward the exit. She’s not sure if the princess could even hear her over her own sobs, but it’s alright. Ty Lee will be back to remind her.


End file.
